2in1: Language & Computer Laboratory

   Usually every school especially senior high school has computer laboratory and language laboratory which has different function of course. In language laboratory students usually use a headphone, look at the monitor and listen to the teacher and to the dialogue or story that played. In the other side in computer laboratory students can use the computer for studying about the programs that they learned, use the headphone and listening to the music, or maybe browsing if there is internet connection and it is not forbidden to be used for students.

            Then the question comes up, why don’t we choose one of them? It will spend a lot of money if the school has the language laboratory and computer laboratory at once. Both of those facilities use computers and it will take high school budget to pay the electricity. Well that question maybe can be asked in my college SSE, where there are three computer laboratories and all of them can be used and in good condition. So we can consider which one that will be more useful and more effective to help students in learning.

            In my opinion, I prefer to choose only the computer laboratory than both of computer and language laboratory. Because computer laboratory has more function than thee language laboratory. In computer laboratory we can study about computer programs in computer subject and also we can listen to the dialogue or story or the teacher if we are in language subject. What we have to provide is only a room, unit of computers, LCD, projector and the internet connection.

            in language subject, the students or the teachers will need programs which can support the language learning activity, especially in listening session. In the computer laboratory students can brows to open a website which provides material for listening session. It will be more fun I think for students in learn about listening session. Also in computer laboratory which provides projector and LCD students can watch video or movie and listen to it. It also can be useful for their learning processes. With all of those things I think we already can do the learning process of both of those subjects. Then it will be more effective and efficient, won’t it? Then we can name it as “Computer and Language Laboratory”

it is easy! Listening & Speaking

            In earning language we need to do these two important things. First is listening, second is speaking. As we can see a baby who can say a word ”mama” because she often hear her mother says “mama”. It also happens for other words. It means that people usually listen first so after that the sound of the word can recorded by our brain and it will put in our memory so we can produce the same word by saying it.

            Nowadays there are many tools which can help language learners in listening for the foreign language. it will help the learners to know how to produce the sound of the word. From the TLL class I got some websites which can be used for it. There are:

·         Interactive Audio - Picture English Lessons

·         John’s ESL Community – Listening Activities

In the other side, there are also students who can understand easily if they give responses to what they learn. Below there are websites which allow students to do the responses while listening so that they will more understand what they hear easily. Here they are

·         Live Action English Interactive

·         WII ( Game )

·         Learning Oral English

·         American English Pronunciation Practice

After they listen to the words then it is time to practice it by speaking. Below there are some websites which can be used to help teacher to do the speaking session in the class:

·         Kalinago.blogspot.com

·         ScMOOze University

·         Voice thread

By using those website, the teacher can make the learning process of speaking and listening become more fun and the students hopefully can learn easily too. Although the technologies are really help the students, the most important role still placed by the pedagogy because the technology will not created if there is nothing who need it.

My Personal Identity

               I was born in the Javanese family. My father is from Tulung Agung, East Java and my mother is from Banyumas, Central Java. Although my parents are Javanese but I still can’t speak Javanese fluently until now. I think it is because I never have conversation with Javanese language in my daily activities. My parents don’t use Javanese language as the main language while we are talking in our house but we only use Indonesian language everyday. Moreover I live in Tangerang, Banten which the people there mostly talk in Sundanese for many activities. My friends in my schools also use sundanese and Indonesian to communicate. So I more fluent speak in sundanese rather than in Javanese. Actually I can speak Javanese but not the polite language of Javanese. So sometimes I still confuse when someone who is older than me talk in Javanese with me. It’s not because I don’t know the meaning but I don’t know what polite words that suitable to answer them. So finally I more often answer them in Indonesian.

            Sometimes I feel confuse when someone ask where I come from. I f I say that I’m from Tangerang then they will judge me as a Sundanese people, then I will explain to his or her that I’m a Javanese. Then when they ask me where my birth place is, I answer them that I was born in Banjarmasin. So then they become more confuse and they make me don’t understand why they have to be confuse. Everyone might be born in somewhere that doesn’t have any related with their ethnic group and also same for their current house.

            Sometimes I feel confuse when I’m thinking about hometown. Actually I don’t know what the true meaning of hometown is. I only know that hometown is a place where many of our families live there. That’s what I know about hometown because I usually go to Banyumas or Tulung Agung when Idul fitri comes and many of my families live there. Although I also have another families whom live in other places and I often visit them too, but It can’t be said as “pulang kampung”. Maybe because the place is not in the village so they don’t call it as “kampung”. So it means that pulang kampung is only for place in village. How about someone who go to Semarang as his/her hometown? Does it called as kampong when we know that Semarang is a city?

            Actually I don’t know where my hometown is because the places which I come to there for many times are my parents’ hometown because they were born there but I also feel that Banjarmasin is not my hometown although I was born there and I also don’t really understand with the area in my parents’ hometown. I feel more comfort in my current house in Tangerang but I don’t really understand with the sundanese language there. So, how to answer what and where is my hometown?